Opeth
My Arms, Your Hearse
1. Prologue
2. April Ethereal
3. When
4. Madrigal
5. The Amen Corner
6. Demon of the Fall
7. Credence
8. Karma
9. Epilogue
=====
One one hand you've got the bastardisation of all music, Ozzy Osbourne acting like a prick on TV, Linkin Park crawling in your skin, Nickelback reminding you how bad music can get and everything that is great about music being bastardised by record companies and greedy artists writing poppy ballads and catchy pop-rock songs to get radioplay and make a buck or two whilst completely screwing over the fans. And on the other hand, you've got bands like Opeth - the Swedish progressive black metal band who produce music so good it almost makes up for how bad things are on the other side of the musical spectrum; on this hand music is an art form, not a business.
My Arms, Your Hearse is truly breathtaking, each song is so refreshingly unique and varied that this album will keep you coming back for more and more for a very long time. Released in 1998, many of the best parts of this album have become cliché and predictable but the manner in which Opeth execute techniques like false endings and deceptive introductions(acoustic melodies exploding into kickdrums and thunderous guitar riffs) make these clichés sound refreshing now as they did when this album was released. Right from the very start, the groundbreakingly original and varied style of Opeth is shown, the gentle sound of rain falling is met with a slow and beautiful piano on the short introduction "Prologue", suddenly the angelic side to Mikael Akerfeldt(vocalist, guitarist)'s voice bursts into action and the absolutely outstanding "April Ethereal" practically explodes into action and over the next 3 minutes some of the things that make Opeth one of the greatest bands on the planet will emerge: fantastically heavy riffs and awesome guitar solos, flawless demonic to harmonic vocal transitions and some of the best drumming I've ever heard..and you aren't even halfway through the first 'proper' song yet.
Perhaps the greatest part of Opeth's musical arsenal is their ability to change from delicate and warm acoustic melodies to fast and hard metal at it's finest in a matter of seconds without you even noticing, it's this brilliant and unique technique which allows Opeth to have songs which last almost 10 minutes long yet still manage to hold your attention for the whole 10 minutes. For me, no song makes the transition from acoustic to heavy as well as the next masterpiece "When" does. A fantastic acoustic introduction in much the same veign as "Prologue" introduced "April Ethereal", but the effect is so much greater here, because one second you're listening to a soft acoustic riff and the next you're listening to Mikael Akerfeldt doing his best Satan impersonation on top of heavy guitars and a kickdrum that sounds like a helicopter, it is incredible. Throughout this song the best of both sides of Opeth are shown, melodic singing is followed by brilliant guitar solo's and then demonic singing followed swiftly by beautiful acoustics and then the main riff starts back, and then the process begins again but rearranges itself so the listener can never predict what comes next. Nickelwho?
Next song "Madrigal" is a fantastic acoustic instrumental to give you a chance to take in the absolutely brilliance you just experienced before the next starts. "The Amen Corner" is another absolutely outstanding track which is far heavier than the previous songs. This song as a whole is probably the least accessible of the album(it was for me at least), the guitars are particularly heavy and harsh and the vocals are practically from the devil himself, but give it time and you will be rewarded with another outstanding song with great guitar work and brilliantly fast drumming and more importantly, the best acoustics in the whole album. "The Amen Corner" is the only song where the acoustics outshine the heavy stuff, that is how good they are on this song.
Next thing you'll hear are the rough distorted growls which will become familiar since you'll be listening to the next song "Demon of the Fall" so much. It's definitely the most accessible and heaviest song on the album and wastes no time in making that point clear. The vocals on this song are absolutely amazing, Akerfeldt does a great demon impersonation, and on top of the best riff on the album you have an absolutely amazing song. This is the song that got me hooked on Opeth, it's absolutely non-stop..even the acoustic parts are fast and furious. I don't really have to say much more about this song because you'll know what I mean when you hear it.
After that chaotic bliss, you get a song you'll either love or hate. An all-acoustic effort called "Credence" which incidentally, became the only single to be released from the album. It's rather bland and 'samey' for an Opeth song, but it does make a good point as to how varied and brilliant the other songs on the album are when it makes this sound boring. In the right mood, this can be absolutely brilliant but over 5 minutes of the slow acoustics is a little much and you'll more than likely find yourself skipping this track in favour of the louder material like the next song.
"Karma" is esentially the finale of the album, the last 'proper' song and it really does give you one hell of a leaving party. Apart from the instantaneous roaring start and heavy riffs the song also happens to be one of the more experimental and unique songs on the album, mixing the acoustics and drums for the first time to good effect. The vocals are very dark and coarse on this song throughout the whole thing, and the end to the song proves to be one of the most amazing vocal experiences on the album, with Akerfeldt just screaching and roaring over and over on top of a brilliant guitar riff and fast 'helicopter' drums. It has to be heard to be believed.
Finally, the instrumental "Epilogue" completes the masterpiece that is "My Arms, Your Hearse". You've just experienced the nearest thing to what I think is "musical perfection", where the 'weak' tracks of the album contain more creativity and brilliance than an entire catalogue of most other artists albums. If this is your first taste of progressive or black/death metal than you'll most likely not find the vocals of Opeth that appealing at first, but they definitely grow as I was under the opinion of "Great music, crap vocals" when I first started listening to Opeth but now I feel that there is no match vocally.
This is truly one of the greatest albums ever created, it is a rollercoasted ride of emotions and thrills, some of these emotions and thrills you'll still be discovering on your 50th listen, which is something 99% of artists could only dream about doing.
RATING: 10/10
My Arms, Your Hearse
1. Prologue
2. April Ethereal
3. When
4. Madrigal
5. The Amen Corner
6. Demon of the Fall
7. Credence
8. Karma
9. Epilogue
=====
One one hand you've got the bastardisation of all music, Ozzy Osbourne acting like a prick on TV, Linkin Park crawling in your skin, Nickelback reminding you how bad music can get and everything that is great about music being bastardised by record companies and greedy artists writing poppy ballads and catchy pop-rock songs to get radioplay and make a buck or two whilst completely screwing over the fans. And on the other hand, you've got bands like Opeth - the Swedish progressive black metal band who produce music so good it almost makes up for how bad things are on the other side of the musical spectrum; on this hand music is an art form, not a business.
My Arms, Your Hearse is truly breathtaking, each song is so refreshingly unique and varied that this album will keep you coming back for more and more for a very long time. Released in 1998, many of the best parts of this album have become cliché and predictable but the manner in which Opeth execute techniques like false endings and deceptive introductions(acoustic melodies exploding into kickdrums and thunderous guitar riffs) make these clichés sound refreshing now as they did when this album was released. Right from the very start, the groundbreakingly original and varied style of Opeth is shown, the gentle sound of rain falling is met with a slow and beautiful piano on the short introduction "Prologue", suddenly the angelic side to Mikael Akerfeldt(vocalist, guitarist)'s voice bursts into action and the absolutely outstanding "April Ethereal" practically explodes into action and over the next 3 minutes some of the things that make Opeth one of the greatest bands on the planet will emerge: fantastically heavy riffs and awesome guitar solos, flawless demonic to harmonic vocal transitions and some of the best drumming I've ever heard..and you aren't even halfway through the first 'proper' song yet.
Perhaps the greatest part of Opeth's musical arsenal is their ability to change from delicate and warm acoustic melodies to fast and hard metal at it's finest in a matter of seconds without you even noticing, it's this brilliant and unique technique which allows Opeth to have songs which last almost 10 minutes long yet still manage to hold your attention for the whole 10 minutes. For me, no song makes the transition from acoustic to heavy as well as the next masterpiece "When" does. A fantastic acoustic introduction in much the same veign as "Prologue" introduced "April Ethereal", but the effect is so much greater here, because one second you're listening to a soft acoustic riff and the next you're listening to Mikael Akerfeldt doing his best Satan impersonation on top of heavy guitars and a kickdrum that sounds like a helicopter, it is incredible. Throughout this song the best of both sides of Opeth are shown, melodic singing is followed by brilliant guitar solo's and then demonic singing followed swiftly by beautiful acoustics and then the main riff starts back, and then the process begins again but rearranges itself so the listener can never predict what comes next. Nickelwho?
Next song "Madrigal" is a fantastic acoustic instrumental to give you a chance to take in the absolutely brilliance you just experienced before the next starts. "The Amen Corner" is another absolutely outstanding track which is far heavier than the previous songs. This song as a whole is probably the least accessible of the album(it was for me at least), the guitars are particularly heavy and harsh and the vocals are practically from the devil himself, but give it time and you will be rewarded with another outstanding song with great guitar work and brilliantly fast drumming and more importantly, the best acoustics in the whole album. "The Amen Corner" is the only song where the acoustics outshine the heavy stuff, that is how good they are on this song.
Next thing you'll hear are the rough distorted growls which will become familiar since you'll be listening to the next song "Demon of the Fall" so much. It's definitely the most accessible and heaviest song on the album and wastes no time in making that point clear. The vocals on this song are absolutely amazing, Akerfeldt does a great demon impersonation, and on top of the best riff on the album you have an absolutely amazing song. This is the song that got me hooked on Opeth, it's absolutely non-stop..even the acoustic parts are fast and furious. I don't really have to say much more about this song because you'll know what I mean when you hear it.
After that chaotic bliss, you get a song you'll either love or hate. An all-acoustic effort called "Credence" which incidentally, became the only single to be released from the album. It's rather bland and 'samey' for an Opeth song, but it does make a good point as to how varied and brilliant the other songs on the album are when it makes this sound boring. In the right mood, this can be absolutely brilliant but over 5 minutes of the slow acoustics is a little much and you'll more than likely find yourself skipping this track in favour of the louder material like the next song.
"Karma" is esentially the finale of the album, the last 'proper' song and it really does give you one hell of a leaving party. Apart from the instantaneous roaring start and heavy riffs the song also happens to be one of the more experimental and unique songs on the album, mixing the acoustics and drums for the first time to good effect. The vocals are very dark and coarse on this song throughout the whole thing, and the end to the song proves to be one of the most amazing vocal experiences on the album, with Akerfeldt just screaching and roaring over and over on top of a brilliant guitar riff and fast 'helicopter' drums. It has to be heard to be believed.
Finally, the instrumental "Epilogue" completes the masterpiece that is "My Arms, Your Hearse". You've just experienced the nearest thing to what I think is "musical perfection", where the 'weak' tracks of the album contain more creativity and brilliance than an entire catalogue of most other artists albums. If this is your first taste of progressive or black/death metal than you'll most likely not find the vocals of Opeth that appealing at first, but they definitely grow as I was under the opinion of "Great music, crap vocals" when I first started listening to Opeth but now I feel that there is no match vocally.
This is truly one of the greatest albums ever created, it is a rollercoasted ride of emotions and thrills, some of these emotions and thrills you'll still be discovering on your 50th listen, which is something 99% of artists could only dream about doing.
RATING: 10/10
